In the past year and a half I have seen at least one at just about every thrift shop I frequent, along with several T3000s. I have passed them up that were priced at $2. Prices on the auction site are often not more than that.

Yeah, you guys nailed it.
And don't forget, uncontrollable in serves.
At the '78 fast serve contest at GoldenGateway, Wilson lent the new 3000 for anyone willing to use them. Almost nobody did, as it was really weirdly aerodynamic, like no air drag at all.

the t2000 is a cool racquet because Jimmy Connors used it
but i like the t3000 better. it feels more stable than the t2000 to me.

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I haven't hit with one of these in well over 30 years but I always thought they were basically the same....the throat piece just being a marketing gimmick. But I did have a friend back in the day that used the T3000 and claimed it had better control. Personally I hated these things. If I *had* to use a metal racquet I'd go with any number of aluminum models.

I haven't hit with one of these in well over 30 years but I always thought they were basically the same....the throat piece just being a marketing gimmick. But I did have a friend back in the day that used the T3000 and claimed it had better control. Personally I hated these things. If I *had* to use a metal racquet I'd go with any number of aluminum models.

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I would only use it to play against those who are not as good as I am, so maybe that's why I think it is a nice racquet.

One time i did use it to play against a someone whom i had never played before and he turned out to be a superior player and I got destroyed but he would have destroyed me regardless of what kind of racquet i used. At least, he thought i lost because i used this t2000 racquet

Throat piece might be a marketing gimmick, but the added torsional stiffness of the T-3000 almost made it playable for average players.

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you know, whenever i used it, the over 60 yrs old players would tell me they used to play with this racquet. So back in those days people probably didn't think that the t2000/t3000 racquets were that difficult to use. Nowadays, everybody thinks racquets from the seventies are unplayable. BreakPoint says he doesn't think Nadal can play with a Dunlop Maxply Fort

Very few players better than B, or 4.5, would choose the T rackets after trying them. The exception is Connors, of course.
I can probably name over 30 decent players who tried that racket, and none used it after the first or second hit.
Torsional instability was only one of the problems. Lack of air drag was, for me, the worse problem. Just totally inconsistent!
Notice, thru all the years after the T's, nobody makes a racket with reduced air drag by going nothing on the throat. Prince Mono was horrid for guys with strong serves and fast swings.

The T-2000 was not a control frame, especially with its trampoline-line stringing design. It was very flexible in the throat, had a tiny head, tended to vibrate and was difficult to string. It may have been one of the worst racquets ever made. Jimmy Connors added lead tape to the top and to one side - which always had to be played in the up position - to improve its playability. Wilson sold millions of them and must have made millions as steel was cheap. After the initial craze, most players including pros switched back to wood or went to aluminum frames which were lighter and stiffer.

We had a few top players in South Carolina using the T-series. The #1 woman in the state used it for a few years...absolutely elegant strokes. Played Victor Imperial blue spiral in it. The founder of the first tennis specialty store in the mid-state also used it for a while. Former NC State player and USPTA pro back when there weren't pros on every court in town. This guy's strokes were also smooth and uncomplicated(nothing like MY whippy topspin forehand).

I've told this story before. Yamaha put on a fast serve contest and the three top speeds were hit by A)Former UGA player using a Kramer Auto wood demo!; 2)ME...using a Fischer Superform; and C) a local teaching pro using a T3000 !!! The Yamaha rep was NOT pleased !!

We even had players using the T-series long enough to wear through the 'wires'. Sent the rackets back(Chicago?) for re-wiring and they came back 'good as new'.

The Wilson T-series was a lot like the early Ford Escorts. No one would suggest they were engineering marvels; but they sure sold one heck of a lot of them!

Another story I'll repeat...after moving to Atlanta in '80, I'm pretty sure I NEVER had to re-string a T-series racket for a customer...they just disappeared. (I've got a half-dozen on hand that need re-stringing, but I haven't found myself in the mood .

Another story I'll repeat...after moving to Atlanta in '80, I'm pretty sure I NEVER had to re-string a T-series racket for a customer...they just disappeared. (I've got a half-dozen on hand that need re-stringing, but I haven't found myself in the mood .

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coachrick, a few years ago, I bought 2 brand new T-3000 racquets from the big auction site. The racquets were delivered to me in the original wilson box, complete with dust from the 1970s. Well, I took the racquets to the tennis shop and nobody there knew how to string them but they told me to leave them and they would try to find someone who could do the job. Well, they managed to string the racquets but they charged me extra for it, not too unreasonable, i thought. The string jobs turned out to be more expensive than those racquets :shock:

I have one that I measured at 26.56", 375 g, and 1 pt HL. I did not measure swing weight, but there is a feces-ton of it. I'd happily post a positive opinion of hitting with it if I had one!

It's such a piece of tennis history, though, that you gotta love it anyway. And, I remain awestruck that Connors could have been so dominant for so long with the thing.

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At one point, at least 4 or 5 of the players on the USC(the original...South Carolina) team were using a T-series racket...most of them played Victor gut! USC(the original...South Carolina) was a top-20 team at that time, so those guys MUST have been pretty good!

Another story I've told before...we ordered 4 1/2" pallet sets by the dozen from Wilson...to the point they asked what in the world we were doing! Each of those players used a two-handed backhand and could snap the butt-cap end off every few days. One of the guys went back and forth between the 3000 and the SeamCo Ken Rosewall. I switched one of the players to the Red Head and he thanked me every time he came in the shop for quite a while .

coachrick, a few years ago, I bought 2 brand new T-3000 racquets from the big auction site. The racquets were delivered to me in the original wilson box, complete with dust from the 1970s. Well, I took the racquets to the tennis shop and nobody there knew how to string them but they told me to leave them and they would try to find someone who could do the job. Well, they managed to string the racquets but they charged me extra for it, not too unreasonable, i thought. The string jobs turned out to be more expensive than those racquets :shock:

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Most of the shops I knew charged about three bucks extra for the T-series...ostensibly to pay for the machine adapters required. Now, you would have to pay a 'specialist' We could string on a couple of machines without any adapter, IIRC; but the adapter made stringing on the Serrano much easier. The later Ektelon machines required an adapter(or two), I believe. Glad I don't have to worry about that any more!

For the youngsters out there, it took only 28' to string the T-series sticks...less if you knew the 'secret' one-string method.(I never actually learned how to do THAT one.)

These things came in a box of miscellaneous parts that I bought together with the Threelastic Allcourt two decades ago, and have been a complete enigma to me ever since. It has never occurred to me to try them on the T-series until I read your post. I am still not fully convinced that this is how they were meant to be used, but they do kinda sorta fit...

These things came in a box of miscellaneous parts that I bought together with the Threelastic Allcourt two decades ago, and have been a complete enigma to me ever since. It has never occurred to me to try them on the T-series until I read your post. I am still not fully convinced that this is how they were meant to be used, but they do kinda sorta fit...

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I wish I could get a look up close on the machine. Those are 'new' to me and look like they were carved from stone!(The Serrano and Oliver machines weren't exactly elegant . The adapters I'm thinking of were much leaner, designed to hold the T series with a couple of long tines sticking up through the metal loops of the racket. They were thin enough to allow easy access to looping the string through the wire hoops.

Is that machine in the picture the ThreeLastic? Our ThreeLastic from the early '70s was a drop-weight table top model. The machine in your picture looks more like the Serrano or Oliver.

You are not seeing things, coach; this is indeed the Serrano that I picked up two months ago. Before that, I had to content myself with my ThreeLastic. These chunky cast aluminum contraptions definitely did not fit the ThreeLastic. I had a hard time visualizing how they were supposed to be used, since they blocked access to the grommet holes on a conventional frame. Now I am almost looking forward to breaking a string on my T3000 so that I can test them out...or maybe not.:-?

You are not seeing things, coach; this is indeed the Serrano that I picked up two months ago. Before that, I had to content myself with my ThreeLastic. These chunky cast aluminum contraptions definitely did not fit the ThreeLastic. I had a hard time visualizing how they were supposed to be used, since they blocked access to the grommet holes on a conventional frame. Now I am almost looking forward to breaking a string on my T3000 so that I can test them out...or maybe not.:-?

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I've got 4 or so with intact string in case there's a 'steelie' tournament in the area . Otherwise, IF I can easily mount the T-series on my LF MS200tt, I'll restring the others at some point...or maybe not !

By the bye, if you can 'pick up' a Serrano machine, you're a lot tougher than I am!

I would only use it to play against those who are not as good as I am, so maybe that's why I think it is a nice racquet.

One time i did use it to play against a someone whom i had never played before and he turned out to be a superior player and I got destroyed but he would have destroyed me regardless of what kind of racquet i used. At least, he thought i lost because i used this t2000 racquet

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Did he ask "why the Hell are you using that thing!?!" Or was he also using a vintage racquet? Anyway, with all the cool old racquets you have I personaly would have opted for one of the midsize wood ones.

Another story I'll repeat...after moving to Atlanta in '80, I'm pretty sure I NEVER had to re-string a T-series racket for a customer...they just disappeared. (I've got a half-dozen on hand that need re-stringing, but I haven't found myself in the mood .

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This got me thinking. The last time I actually knew/saw someone who used this as their regular main racquet was a local teaching pro in upstate NY c.1988. He may have been one of the last persons on the planet still using it.

Did he ask "why the Hell are you using that thing!?!" Or was he also using a vintage racquet? Anyway, with all the cool old racquets you have I personaly would have opted for one of the midsize wood ones.

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haha. he used a well used Wilson K90 (Federer racquet) that he bought from craigslist. That guy was so strong, he was one of the few players I had seen who could generate great power with that racquet. He's like a 4.5 Tsonga

This got me thinking. The last time I actually knew/saw someone who used this as their regular main racquet was a local teaching pro in upstate NY c.1988. He may have been one of the last persons on the planet still using it.

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....I just wanted to add to this. The guy was also a total ass. He often insulted people at the park, I think he thought he was a comedian. I don't know how he ever got teaching jobs. But he did run the tennis programs at the county park so I assume most of his salary came from that. I could go on and on (I really hated him LOL) but I remember him making fun of anyone using a Prince racquet. Of course those type racquets basically became the norm within a few years.

As for my friend "Jim" (post #13) who used the T-3000 in High School, he went to a different racquet by 1981.

Most of the shops I knew charged about three bucks extra for the T-series...ostensibly to pay for the machine adapters required. Now, you would have to pay a 'specialist' We could string on a couple of machines without any adapter, IIRC; but the adapter made stringing on the Serrano much easier. The later Ektelon machines required an adapter(or two), I believe. Glad I don't have to worry about that any more!

For the youngsters out there, it took only 28' to string the T-series sticks...less if you knew the 'secret' one-string method.(I never actually learned how to do THAT one.)

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I still have my old Serrano from back in the day.Still will use it every so often when I get a wooden racquet to string.
I strung a good # of T-2000's back then, as it was a very popular racquet in the late 60's. Never did get the adapters or make the brake like the Wilson manual suggested for the Serrano, but it all worked out back then all the same.

if that racquet is strung in the 40s and you can hit the ball in the exact center that racquet is a rocket launcher i think thats how connors was able to use it so long until 1986, tho he strung his tighter he usually hit the ball on center

I assume you used to play with one of the Wilson T's.
I found them pretty good for most shots, bad for big flat serves, lacking mostly height control due to flex and lack of air drag. I could be wrong, but over 20 guys passed on the T-3000 for fast serve contests, some choosing to use their regular wood rackets.
Lots of guys had arm problems, mostly elbow, from the 2000's.
Notice the incredibly huge numbers of simllar rackets on the market today.

i guess different strokes for diff. folks, i did play around with them for a little while. i think stringing them at a lower tension helps any arm problems and gives you enough power so all you have to worry about is control. and if you can get used to it and the timing right, you can serve pretty hard. since the head is round, the sweetspot is in the exact middle and from a physics standpoint, the sweetspot on this racquet is farther away from your hand then a regular racquet from what i remember, so its like getting the power of a longbody racquet in a maneuverable standard length frame, IF you can control it (btw i am NOT an expert player so take my opinions for what its worth ha)

Most of the shops I knew charged about three bucks extra for the T-series...ostensibly to pay for the machine adapters required. Now, you would have to pay a 'specialist' We could string on a couple of machines without any adapter, IIRC; but the adapter made stringing on the Serrano much easier. The later Ektelon machines required an adapter(or two), I believe. Glad I don't have to worry about that any more!

For the youngsters out there, it took only 28' to string the T-series sticks...less if you knew the 'secret' one-string method.(I never actually learned how to do THAT one.)

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This was the third racquet I ever strung... I used the one string method, but I had no idea what I was doing at the time and am not sure exactly how I figured it out (I think I might have looked at another T 2000 that was already strung).

What people rarely mention is that the T-2000 came with throat welds that improve its stiffness. The racquets that have these have a little sticker that says "firm".

As far as I know, Connors only used the welded model. I have hit with a T-2000 with the welds and a T-3000 without the welds, and the latter felt more flexible. A lot of the complaints about the T-2000 being too flexible probably come from people hitting with the model that lacks the welds.